Rep. Robert An­drews, D-N.J., will resign later this month to take a job at a Phil­adelphia law firm, The Phil­adelphia In­quirer re­por­ted Tues­day morn­ing. It’s an­oth­er ex­ample — the third in just a few weeks — of a long-ten­ured mem­ber of Demo­crat­ic lead­er­ship leav­ing the House of Rep­res­ent­at­ives.

Just over a year ago, House Minor­ity Lead­er Nancy Pelosi had nom­in­ated An­drews to co­chair the Demo­crat­ic Steer­ing and Policy Com­mit­tee, which gov­erns com­mit­tee as­sign­ments. An­drews, who is in his 12th House term, has been the sub­ject of a long-run­ning eth­ics in­vest­ig­a­tion in the House; once he leaves Con­gress, he will no longer be un­der the cham­ber’s jur­is­dic­tion.

Loc­al Demo­crats are ex­pec­ted to co­alesce be­hind state Sen. Don­ald Nor­cross, the broth­er of power­ful South Jer­sey Demo­crat George Nor­cross, as a suc­cessor to An­drews, ac­cord­ing to a Demo­crat­ic source fa­mil­i­ar with the pro­cess.

Already in 2014, 20-term Cali­for­nia Demo­crat­ic Reps. George Miller and Henry Wax­man, the rank­ing mem­bers of two power­ful House com­mit­tees, have de­cided not to seek reelec­tion. Like their seats, An­drews’s is re­li­ably Demo­crat­ic-lean­ing.

Al­to­geth­er, at least four of the 10 longest-serving mem­bers of this Con­gress will not be back in 2015. In ad­di­tion to Miller and Wax­man, fel­low Demo­crat Ed­ward Mar­key left last year to take up Mas­sachu­setts’s va­cant Sen­ate seat, and Re­pub­lic­an Rep. Bill Young died last Oc­to­ber. In ad­di­tion, 19-term Demo­crat­ic Rep. Nick Ra­hall faces a tough reelec­tion race in West Vir­gin­ia this fall, and 22-term New York Rep. Charles Ran­gel faces a Demo­crat­ic Party re­match with the man who nearly knocked him off last cycle. An­oth­er seni­or Demo­crat, Rep. Col­lin Peterson — the rank­ing mem­ber of the House Ag­ri­cul­ture Com­mit­tee — hasn’t yet an­nounced wheth­er he’ll run for a 13th term in his GOP-lean­ing seat in Min­nesota.

The House has completed it's business for 2016 by passing a spending bill which will keep the government funded through April 28. The final vote tally was 326-96. The bill's standing in the Senate is a bit tenuous at the moment, as a trio of Democratic Senators have pledged to block the bill unless coal miners get a permanent extension on retirement and health benefits. The government runs out of money on Friday night.

HEADS TO OBAMA

Senate Approves Defense Bill

19 hours ago

THE LATEST

The Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act today, sending the $618 billion measure to President Obama. The president vetoed the defense authorization bill a year ago, but both houses could override his disapproval this time around.

Source:

ANTI-MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE

Trump Chooses Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr CEO as Labor Sec

21 hours ago

BREAKING

BUCKING THE BOSS?

Trump Cabinet Full of TPP Supporters

21 hours ago

WHY WE CARE

"President-elect Donald Trump railed against the Trans-Pacific Partnership on his way to winning the White House and has vowed immediately to withdraw the U.S. from the 12-nation accord. Several of his cabinet picks and other early nominees to top posts, however, have endorsed or spoken favorably about the trade pact, including Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, announced Wednesday as Mr. Trump’s pick for ambassador to China, and retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, Mr. Trump’s pick to head the Department of Defense."